Thursday, May 28, 2009

Day 22: Lessons Learned from Mom

Day 22: Keep a Full Pantry

For as long as I can remember my mom has had some kind of food storage. We were lucky that every place I remember living (other than that tiny place we lived in for six weeks when we first moved to town) had space for storage--even the tiny little red house had a cellar.

Mom tried several different methods to add to storage and keep track, I remember one that worked on the tally system and as she used it, she made a list of what needed to be replaced. I have several siblings who have absolutely no space for food storage. One sister has a kitchen pantry not much bigger than the standard hall closet, another moves every year or two, two live in apartments, and my brother's not much better off.

I've been blessed to have a bit more room, and to be able to make room when needed--which came in really handy when my husband had been laid off for the second time in a single year, our savings was gone and we didn't know how we were going to pay the bills. It's amazing how little you have to spend on perishables if you have the main ingredients for most everything else.

The fact that Mom taught me how to cook and use what's in my cupboards came in really handy.

Even now it's great to be abe to stock up on food when it is on sale, and have it there when I need it without having to make extra trips to the store every week. With all of the craziness in the world we're still working on our year's supply, and every week I'm working to build it up more. Mom and I have been talking about preparedness and being ready for those bumps in the road that can either be minor, or major, depending on how prepared we are to face them. With her encouragement hopefully I can be prepared for those bumps.